The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-10-19
REV. DR., TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYE DIVfHE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.


for your saEes He became poor."-II Corin-
thians, viii.,9,
That all the worlds which on a cold: win
ter's night make the heavens one great glitter
are inhabitantless is an absurdity. Philoso-
pliers tell us that many of these worlds are
| too hot, or too cold, or Of too rarefed attno-
| sphere for residence But, if not fit for
] human abode, they may be fit for beings die
terent from and superior to ourselves. We
| Are told that the'world Of Jupiter is changing
| lnil it is almost fit for creatures like the.
| human race and that Mars would do for the
numan family with a little change in the,
! structure of the respiratory organs. But that
| here is great world swung somewhere, vast
! beyond imagination, and that it is the head.
quarters of thsuniuerse and the metropolis Of
mmensity, and has q population in numbers
Tast beyond all! statistics, and appointments
IF splendor beyond the capacity of canvas, or
| ooem, or angel to describe, is as certain as
, ihe Bible is authentic: Perhaps some of the
astronomers with their big telescopes have
already caught a'glimpss Of it, not knowing;
what it is. We spell it with six letters and
pronounce it heaven.
That is where Prince Jesus lived nineteen
centuries ago. He was the Kings son. It was
The old homestead Of eternity, and all its
castles were as>oldias God. Not frost had
,ver chilled the air Not tear had ever
rolled down the cheek Of one Of it's inhab-
iche, or sideache or heartache. There
had not been funeral in the memory Of the
oldest inhabitant. There had never in all the
and been woven a black veil, for there had
never heen anything to mourn over. The
passage of millions Of years had not wrinkled
,r crippled or bedimmed any of its citizens.
All the people there weDein state OF eternal
adolescence What floral and pomonic bright
ness! Gardens Of perpetual bloom and
orchards in unending fr,litage. Had some
Spirit from another world entered and asked:
What is sin? what is, bereavement what is
,orrowa what is death? the brightest of the
ntelligences. would have failed to give deflni-
silence in heaven. for half an hour. The
Prince Of whom speak had honors, emolu-
nents, acclamations, such as no other
Prince, celestial or terrestrial, ever
enjoyed As he passed the street, the
inhabitants took off from their brows gar.
lands of white lilies and threw them in the
way He never entered any Of the temples
without all the worshipers rising up and bow.
ing in obeisance. In all the professions or
The high days he. was the one who evoked the
loudest welcome. Sometimes on foot, walk
ing in loving talk with the humblest Of the
land, but at other times he took chariot, and
among the $4,000 that David spoke OF his
was the swiftest and most flaming; or, as
when John described him, he took white pal
Trey Will WudU DIdASc VI lOOo, oAAo "a Sh ~
ueck, and roll OF name, and gleam Of eye is,
only din1ly suggested in the Apocalypse He
was not like other Princes, waiting for the
father to die and then take the throne.
| When few yeas ago an artist in Germany
made picture for the Royal gallery repre-
seuting Emperor William on the throne, and
the Crown Prince as having one foot on the
! step Of the throne, Emperor William ordered
| the picture changed, and said: LET the
Prince keep his foot off the throne till
| leave it"
Already enthroned was the heavenly
Prince, side by side with the Father. What a
circle Of dominion! What myrmidons, OF ad-
mirersl What unending round Of glories!
All the towers chimed the Princes praises.
| OF all the inhabitants, from the center OF the
! city, on over the hills and clear down to the
beach, against which the ocean OF immensity
rolls its pillows, the Prince was the aelnowl-
| edged favorite No wonder my text says
| that ''he was rich" Set all the diamonds OF
| the earth in one scepter, build all the palaces
| Of the earth in one Alhambra, gather all the
pearls of the sea in one diadem, put all the
values Of the earth in one coin; the aggregate
, would not express his aff1uence. Yes, Paul
was right. Solomon had in gold 96S0, ,OC0, 600
and in silver 91, ,O29, ,OOO, ,377 sterling. But
greater than Solomon is here. Not the mill
| ionaire, but the quadrillionaireo of heaven. To
| describe his celestial surroundings the Bible
uses all colors, gathering them in rainbow
| over the throne and setting them as agate IN
the temple window, and hosting twelve OF
them into a wall from striped jasper at the
! base to transparent amethyst in the capStone,
while between are green Of emerald, and
snow Of pearl, and blue of sapphire, and yellow
of topaz, gray Of chrysoprasus, and flame OF
| jacinth. All the loveliness Of landscape in
| foliage, and river, and rill, and all enchant-
ment aquamarine, the sea Of glass mingled
with fire as when the sun sinks in the Medi-
terranean. All the thrill of music, instru-
mental and vocal, harps. trumpets, do1o,
| logies. There stood the Prince, surrounded
by those who had under their wings the
velocity of millions of miles in second, rich
in love, rich in alteration, rich in power, rich
in worship, rich in holiness, rich as God.
But one day there was a big disaster in a
department of Gods universe. Arace fallen!
A world in ruins! Our planet the scene Of
catastrophe! A globe swinging out into dark
ness, with mountains and seas and islands,
an awful centrifugal Of sin seeming to over
| power the beautiful centripetal Of righteous
ness, and from it a groan reached heaven.
| Such a sound had never been heard there
Plenty Of sweet sounds, but never an outcry
Of distress or an echo Of agony. At that one
| Croan the Prince rose from all the blissful
circum1acence end started for the outer gate
and descended into the night OF this world.
| Out of what bright harbor into what rough
sea! "Stay with u.s." cried angel after angel
the Prince, II cannot stay; I must be
off for that wreck of world.
must stop that groan. I must hush that
| distress. Imust fathom that way. l must
redeem those nations. Farewell, thrones and
temples, companions cherubic, seraphic, arch
angelic! Excuse this absence, for ! will
come back again, carrying on my shoulder q
ransomed world. Till this is done l choose
earthly scoff to heavenly exclamation, and
! cattle pen to q Kings palace, frigid zone OF
earth to atmosphere Of celestial radiance.
have no time to lose, for bark ye the groan
that grows mightier while wait FAREWELL
Eye know the grace Of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that, though He was rich,yet for your
sakes He became poor"
Was there ever contrast so overpoWerlpg
celestial departure and the midnight OF his
earthly arrival? Sure enough, the angels
were out that night in the sky, and special
| meteor acted as escort, but all that was from
other worlds, and not from this world. The
earth made no demonstration OF welcome. Ii
one of the great Princes Of the world steps
out at depot cheers resound, and the bands
of this missionary Prince of the skies not
torch tiared, not a trumpet blew, not plume
fluttered. ALL the music and the pomp were
overhead. Our world opened for him nothing
better than a barn door. The Rajah OF
! Cashmere sent to Victoria bedstead OF
carved gold and canopy that cost SI50, ,OOO,
but the world had for the Prince Of H. heaven a
Jewels in the Tower of London amount to
s15, 100000, but this member of eter nal
ROYALTY had not where to lay his head: To
know how poor he was, ask the camel drivers,